The Bakery Packaging Checklist: Boxes, Bags and Paper

A bakery counter usually needs five kinds of packaging: boxes for cakes and pastries in a few sizes, paper or wax bags for cookies, bread and single items, food-safe wrapping paper, cups if you serve coffee, and lids to go with them. Brand the item that leaves your shop most visibly first, which for most bakeries is the pastry or cake box, and size your boxes around the products you actually sell. The checklist below walks through each item and the questions to answer before you order.

The checklist at a glance

Item	What it is for	What we offer
Pastry boxes	Single pastries, half dozens, dozens and mixed assortments	Custom bakery boxes in 24 sizes, from single-pastry up to quarter-sheet cake
Cake boxes	Whole cakes, layer cakes and sheet cakes	Printed cake and pastry boxes
Bags	Cookies by weight, bread, single items to go	Paper and wax bags, including pound bags and single-serve bags
Food paper	Wrapping, lining trays and boxes, separating layers	Printed food papers from 6x6 to 14x18, white or kraft, 400 sheets per bundle
Cups	Coffee, tea and cold drinks	Paper hot cups, paper cold cups and clear plastic cold cups
Lids	Covering hot and cold cups	Dome, lock-back flat, 4 oz espresso and cold cup lids, sold separately

Boxes: size them to your products

Boxes are where most bakeries overbuy or underbuy. The goal is to cover your whole range with as few sizes as possible, while making sure nothing gets squashed and nothing slides around.

Measure what you sell, not what you think you sell

• Measure your largest item in each category. Take the widest and tallest cake, the biggest cookie and the tallest pastry, including frosting, piped decoration and toppers.
• Leave a little clearance. A box that fits a cake exactly will scrape the sides when someone lifts the cake in or out. A small gap on each side and above the tallest point protects the decoration.
• Do not go much bigger. Too much space lets pastries slide into each other on the drive home. If an item sits loose, a sheet of food paper underneath helps keep it in place.
• Count how items pack. Lay out six and twelve of your most popular pastries on the counter and measure the footprint. That tells you your half-dozen and dozen box sizes.

A sensible starter set of sizes

1. A small box for one or two pastries or a slice of cake.
2. A half-dozen box for your best-selling pastry or cookie.
3. A dozen or assortment box for mixed orders and gifts.
4. A cake box sized to the cake you sell most often.
5. A quarter-sheet cake box, if you take sheet cake orders.

Our custom bakery boxes come in 24 sizes and are packed 50–100 per bundle, with a 5-bundle minimum. You can see the full range in the custom bakery boxes collection. If you are unsure which sizes fit your products, the sample packaging kit lets you check packaging in hand before placing a printed order.

Bags for cookies, bread and grab-and-go

Bags handle everything that does not need a rigid box. A few common uses:

• Pound bags for cookies, biscotti or other items sold by weight.
• Single-serve bags for a croissant, muffin or cookie handed over the counter.
• Wax bags for buttery or slightly greasy items where plain paper might show marks.

Bags move fast, so they are often where a bakery uses the most packaging by count. Browse custom paper bags to compare styles.

Wrapping and lining paper

Food paper is the quiet workhorse of a bakery. It lines display trays, sits under pastries inside a box, separates layers of cookies, and wraps a single item for a customer who is eating on the go. Our printed food papers come in sizes from 6x6 to 14x18, in white or kraft, at 400 sheets per bundle.

White paper gives a clean, bright look and shows colours more truly. Kraft has a natural brown tone that suits rustic and artisan bakeries. If you are not sure which paper type suits buttery or oily items, our greaseproof paper guide explains the difference, and the custom wax paper collection shows the options.

Cups for the coffee side of the counter

If you serve coffee, cups are the packaging customers carry around the longest. Here is what we print:

• Single wall paper hot cups, 4–20 oz, 700 per case, 3-case minimum.
• Double wall paper hot cups, 8–20 oz, 260 per case, 5-case minimum.
• Paper cold cups, 12–22 oz, 700 per case, 3-case minimum.
• Clear plastic cold cups, 12–32 oz, 240–300 per case, 5-case minimum.

Lids are sold separately. Most bakeries with a small coffee menu do well with two or three hot cup sizes and one or two cold sizes. Our coffee cup sizes guide can help you narrow it down, and you can browse everything in custom cups.

What to brand first

You do not need to print everything at once. Start with the packaging that is seen by the most people outside your shop, and use plain stock packaging for the rest until you are ready.

1. Cake and pastry boxes. A cake box gets carried down the street, set on a table at a party and opened in front of guests. It is the strongest place for your logo.
2. Bags. They leave the shop in large numbers every day, often in a customer's hand on the walk to work.
3. Cups. If coffee is a big part of your business, printed cups put your name in front of people all morning.
4. Food paper. Printed paper is a finishing touch that shows when a box is opened or a pastry is unwrapped. It is lovely to have but rarely the first priority.

Whatever you print first, use the same logo file and colours on everything. When you add the next item later, your packaging will still look like a set.

Before you place a printed order

• Confirm your sizes. Measure your products against the box dimensions, or check them with samples.
• Get your artwork ready. A clean logo file makes everything easier. Our artwork file prep page explains what to send.
• Plan for setup and proofing. There is a $75 one-time artwork setup per order, and you get a free digital proof before production. Check it carefully, because approved artwork is final.
• Allow time. Production takes 7–10 business days after you approve the proof, and everything is made in the USA. Order before your busy season, not during it.

When you are ready to stock your counter, browse our packaging for bakeries and pastry shops and we will send a free proof before anything is printed.